Skip to main content

Warning! Coffee May Cause Cancer!


Are you getting a little tired of being warned that all kinds of stuff you do is unsafe?  I wrote a post recently about Warning Fatigue with regard to our office’s Electronic Medical Record which I fear will emit a flashing Red Alert if I prescribe a patient an aspirin.

Now, I start every morning with a steaming cup of coffee.  In fact, there is one beside me right now, as I peck about my Dell keyboard to create this post.  My inner circle of intimates and those with whom I share a high percentage of DNA, are aware that I add something to the java, which is a rather atypical additive.  Curious readers may inquire further, although I cannot pledge here that I will make a full disclosure.   Persuade me to disclose, and I will give your request due consideration..

Recently, a judge in California ruled that various coffee companies, including Starbucks, must issue a cancer warning regarding a component of coffee called acrylamide  Violators would be subject to a mere $2,500 daily fine until the establishment complied.  Should Starbucks file for bankruptcy?  Or, better yet, can we sue the coffee companies if we become ill?  What about the fear of becoming ill?  Shouldn't that be compensable?

You might think that this warning could discourage sales since most folks, including me, are against cancer.  But, most folks, including me, shrug off dire warnings on substances and activities that have become part of our daily lives for hundreds of years.  And, calling something a carcinogen – which sounds scary – does not mean it is truly toxic. It may in theory pose a risk that is simply too infinitesimal to take seriously.  For example, if some laboratory rodents (the most unlucky creatures on the planet) are given the equivalent of 500 cups of coffee a day for a year, and they develop tumors, should we humans be concerned because some element of the java may be a carcinogen?

Arsenic in Disguise?


More confusing is to consider all of the putative health benefits of coffee, which even a rudimentary Googler such as myself quickly uncovered.   There are claims, for instance, that coffee can protect us against diabetes, Parkinson’s disease, dementia, depression and liver disease.  Perhaps, we should increase our coffee intake to protect ourselves.  

If we avoided every substance that an organization claimed to be risky and injurious, we would have to live in a hermetically sealed chamber receiving specialized feedings through a tube.  Doesn’t that sound like fun?

What if some organization decided that oxygen was toxic and needed to be avoided?  How long can you hold your breath?
                                                                                                                                               


Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Why Most Doctors Choose Employment

Increasingly, physicians today are employed and most of them willingly so.  The advantages of this employment model, which I will highlight below, appeal to the current and emerging generations of physicians and medical professionals.  In addition, the alternatives to direct employment are scarce, although they do exist.  Private practice gastroenterology practices in Cleveland, for example, are increasingly rare sightings.  Another practice model is gaining ground rapidly on the medical landscape.   Private equity (PE) firms have   been purchasing medical practices who are in need of capital and management oversight.   PE can provide services efficiently as they may be serving multiple practices and have economies of scale.   While these physicians technically have authority over all medical decisions, the PE partners can exert behavioral influences on physicians which can be ethically problematic. For example, if the PE folks reduce non-medical overhead, this may very directly affe

Should Doctors Wear White Coats?

Many professions can be easily identified by their uniforms or state of dress. Consider how easy it is for us to identify a policeman, a judge, a baseball player, a housekeeper, a chef, or a soldier.  There must be a reason why so many professions require a uniform.  Presumably, it is to create team spirit among colleagues and to communicate a message to the clientele.  It certainly doesn’t enhance professional performance.  For instance, do we think if a judge ditches the robe and is wearing jeans and a T-shirt, that he or she cannot issue sage rulings?  If members of a baseball team showed up dressed in comfortable street clothes, would they commit more errors or achieve fewer hits?  The medical profession for most of its existence has had its own uniform.   Male doctors donned a shirt and tie and all doctors wore the iconic white coat.   The stated reason was that this created an aura of professionalism that inspired confidence in patients and their families.   Indeed, even today

Electronic Medical Records vs Physicians: Not a Fair Fight!

Each work day, I enter the chamber of horrors also known as the electronic medical record (EMR).  I’ve endured several versions of this torture over the years, monstrosities that were designed more to appeal to the needs of billers and coders than physicians. Make sense? I will admit that my current EMR, called Epic, is more physician-friendly than prior competitors, but it remains a formidable adversary.  And it’s not a fair fight.  You might be a great chess player, but odds are that you will not vanquish a computer adversary armed with artificial intelligence. I have a competitive advantage over many other physician contestants in the battle of Man vs Machine.   I can type well and can do so while maintaining eye contact with the patient.   You must think I am a magician or a savant.   While this may be true, the birth of my advanced digital skills started decades ago.   (As an aside, digital competence is essential for gastroenterologists.) During college, I worked as a secretary